[faerychild]

My god, what a nightmare nits are. Im my 35 yrs, Ive been lucky enough to have never had an outbreak of them, so this is all new to me.

The last week of first term, my daughter caught nits from someone at school. I did the 'conditioner' treatment as advised by mother in law. It seemed to work. No one told me however that they would reappear 7 days later.....oh joy. Treated her again, no luck, they were still there. The eggs particulary, they seem to stick like bloody super glue.

It took me the whole of the school holidays, more condtioner treatments, plus I tried 2 different brands of Nit treatment, including Quit nits which I left in overnight,
before I think I finally got rid of them. I have changed pillow cases daily, washed her hair a bazillion times, treated the whole family.......etc etc etc. Finally I think they are gone.

Brushing her hair today - she has more eggs....oh wahhhhh What am I doing wrong? Any other tips? Why WONT THEY GO AWAY

[Breeze82]

If the eggs are more then 3mm away from the scalp they are empty. I have used lots of different products and fou f the Moov solution the best, you just put it in, leave for a bit and wash out. It kills both lice and eggs. I now spray my kids hair with water and teatree everyday which seems to be keeping them away as we haven't had any for over 6 mths. Good luck

[bubblegummum]

I don't do conditioner alone, I mix it with tea tree oil. Conditioner by itself makes the lice and eggs easier to brush out but doesn't kill them so you have to make sure you get the lot.

If your dd can cope with sitting still for about an hour sit outside with her and patiently work your way through her hair picking out every single egg. They stand out clearly in the sunshine. I did this once with one of my girls who has long, thick hair. It finally broke the cycle.

And use a metal nit comb. They are much better than the plastic ones.

This post has been edited by bubblegummum: 02/05/2012, 10:43 AM

[faerychild]

Oh cool, I saw the Moov brand at the chemist. There are so many different brands ! Thankyou, will get it today.

How much water and tea tree? lol

[Mrs Who?]

I use Moov Shampoo here too. Very easy to use but I always re-do 7 & 14 days after the first treatment.
Make sure you wash her school hat & we've just started spraying hair each morning with tea tree, eucalyptus & lavender oil in water.

[soontobegran]

I feel for you, it is a common nightmare problem for parents of school aged children.
Are you removing every single egg after the treatment?
I think often this is the crux of the problem as just one egg left in that has not been killed off by the treatment will hatch and the cycle starts again.

I have always relied on a very strong light, if you can use a magnifying glass even better and painstakingly go through every strand of hair pulling or combing off evey egg.
Once this is done then warn your child to not have head to head contact with other kids, tie back hair into plaits because head lice don't fly or jump, they transfer by crawling from one head to another.
Some mums will spray their child's hair with a tea-tree spray or use gel or mousse as it seems to be a bit of a deterrent.
It is difficult when not all parents treat their children properly so all you can do is reinforce the necessity to stay away from other heads.

Don't stress too much about the bed linen etc. Head lice live on the scalp and die very soon when they are off the head.

[~Bob~]

Google nit hairdresser in your area. We have one near us and we went (5 of us had them!!!) and in one treatment they were all gone. It was an expensive exercise but well worth it.

[ZombieMum]

If you've been using the cheap plastic nit comb, then this would be one reason why they are still there. Invest in a Lice Breaker Comb as they remove eggs and new hatchlings.

Your method of combing might need improving - the fresh eggs are close to the scalp, so you have to make sure the comb gets right in there.

It's also possible she caught more since you combed.

When we have nits - I comb the first day. Then I might comb the next day (if it was a bad infestation), but if there was only one or two lice and a few eggs, then I would comb on day 3, then I comb 2 days later, then 3 days later, and 3 days later, and once again 3 days later. I then comb once a week as there is a high risk they are being passed around by my kids friends. Rarely do I find eggs and lice on my 2nd combing, because the lice breaker comb is extremely effective.

Make sure you also comb your other children and yourself - it's possible you've go them now and have passed them back onto her.

This post has been edited by ZombieMum: 02/05/2012, 10:56 AM

[bubblegummum]

Check your active ingredients though. I think Moov is one that has eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil as active ingredients. Considering how easy it is to mix some essential oils with a cheap conditioner it's so much cheaper to make your own. And you'll have the (very full) bottles of essential oils on hand for cleaning or future nit attacks.

[pod30]

I wash my eldests with neutra lice every second day keeps the buggers away even when there was an outbreak for the rest of her class. /it's quite mild.